698 Foundations of Trigonometry

angle, the direction of the rotation is important. We imagine the angle being swept out starting
from an initial side and ending at a terminal side, as shown below. When the rotation is
counter-clockwise9 from initial side to terminal side, we say that the angle is positive; when the
rotation is clockwise, we say that the angle is negative.

Initial Side
de
Si
al
in

T
er
m

m
er

in
T

al
Si
d
e
Initial Side

A positive angle, 45◦ A negative angle, −45◦

At this point, we also extend our allowable rotations to include angles which encompass more than
one revolution. For example, to sketch an angle with measure 450◦ we start with an initial side,
rotate counter-clockwise one complete revolution (to take care of the ‘first’ 360◦ ) then continue
with an additional 90◦ counter-clockwise rotation, as seen below.

450◦

To further connect angles with the Algebra which has come before, we shall often overlay an angle
diagram on the coordinate plane. An angle is said to be in standard position if its vertex is
the origin and its initial side coincides with the positive x-axis. Angles in standard position are
classified according to where their terminal side lies. For instance, an angle in standard position
whose terminal side lies in Quadrant I is called a ‘Quadrant I angle’. If the terminal side of an
angle lies on one of the coordinate axes, it is called a quadrantal angle. Two angles in standard
position are called coterminal if they share the same terminal side.10 In the figure below, α = 120◦
and β = −240◦ are two coterminal Quadrant II angles drawn in standard position. Note that
α = β + 360◦ , or equivalently, β = α − 360◦ . We leave it as an exercise to the reader to verify that
coterminal angles always differ by a multiple of 360◦ .11 More precisely, if α and β are coterminal
angles, then β = α + 360◦ · k where k is an integer.12
9
‘widdershins’
10
Note that by being in standard position they automatically share the same initial side which is the positive x-axis.
11
It is worth noting that all of the pathologies of Analytic Trigonometry result from this innocuous fact.
12
Recall that this means k = 0, ±1, ±2, . . ..
10.1 Angles and their Measure 699

y
4
3
2 α = 120◦

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 x
−1
β = −240◦ −2
−3
−4

Two coterminal angles, α = 120◦ and β = −240◦ , in standard position.

Example 10.1.2. Graph each of the (oriented) angles below in standard position and classify them
according to where their terminal side lies. Find three coterminal angles, at least one of which is
positive and one of which is negative.

1. α = 60◦ 2. β = −225◦ 3. γ = 540◦ 4. φ = −750◦

Solution.

1. To graph α = 60◦ , we draw an angle with its initial side on the positive x-axis and rotate
60◦ 1
counter-clockwise 360 ◦ = 6 of a revolution. We see that α is a Quadrant I angle. To find angles

which are coterminal, we look for angles θ of the form θ = α + 360◦ · k, for some integer k.
When k = 1, we get θ = 60◦ +360◦ = 420◦ . Substituting k = −1 gives θ = 60◦ −360◦ = −300◦ .
Finally, if we let k = 2, we get θ = 60◦ + 720◦ = 780◦ .
◦
2. Since β = −225◦ is negative, we start at the positive x-axis and rotate clockwise 225 5
360◦ = 8 of
a revolution. We see that β is a Quadrant II angle. To find coterminal angles, we proceed as
before and compute θ = −225◦ + 360◦ · k for integer values of k. We find 135◦ , −585◦ and
495◦ are all coterminal with −225◦ .
y y
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 α = 60◦ 1

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 x −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 x
−1 −1
−2 −2
β = −225◦
−3 −3
−4 −4

α = 60◦ in standard position. β = −225◦ in standard position.

700 Foundations of Trigonometry

3. Since γ = 540◦ is positive, we rotate counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis. One full
revolution accounts for 360◦ , with 180◦ , or 12 of a revolution remaining. Since the terminal
side of γ lies on the negative x-axis, γ is a quadrantal angle. All angles coterminal with γ are
of the form θ = 540◦ + 360◦ · k, where k is an integer. Working through the arithmetic, we
find three such angles: 180◦ , −180◦ and 900◦ .

4. The Greek letter φ is pronounced ‘fee’ or ‘fie’ and since φ is negative, we begin our rotation
clockwise from the positive x-axis. Two full revolutions account for 720◦ , with just 30◦ or 12
1

of a revolution to go. We find that φ is a Quadrant IV angle. To find coterminal angles, we

compute θ = −750◦ + 360◦ · k for a few integers k and obtain −390◦ , −30◦ and 330◦ .

y y
4 4
3 3
γ = 540◦
2 2
1 1

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 x −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 x
−1 −1
−2 −2
φ = −750◦
−3 −3
−4 −4

γ = 540◦ in standard position. φ = −750◦ in standard position.

Note that since there are infinitely many integers, any given angle has infinitely many coterminal
angles, and the reader is encouraged to plot the few sets of coterminal angles found in Example
10.1.2 to see this. We are now just one step away from completely marrying angles with the real
numbers and the rest of Algebra. To that end, we recall this definition from Geometry.
Definition 10.1. The real number π is defined to be the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its
diameter. In symbols, given a circle of circumference C and diameter d,

C
π=
d
While Definition 10.1 is quite possibly the ‘standard’ definition of π, the authors would be remiss
if we didn’t mention that buried in this definition is actually a theorem. As the reader is probably
aware, the number π is a mathematical constant - that is, it doesn’t matter which circle is selected,
the ratio of its circumference to its diameter will have the same value as any other circle. While
this is indeed true, it is far from obvious and leads to a counterintuitive scenario which is explored
in the Exercises. Since the diameter of a circle is twice its radius, we can quickly rearrange the
C
equation in Definition 10.1 to get a formula more useful for our purposes, namely: 2π =
r
10.1 Angles and their Measure 709

10.1.2 Exercises
In Exercises 1 - 4, convert the angles into the DMS system. Round each of your answers to the
nearest second.

1. 63.75◦ 2. 200.325◦ 3. −317.06◦ 4. 179.999◦

In Exercises 5 - 8, convert the angles into decimal degrees. Round each of your answers to three
decimal places.

5. 125◦ 500 6. −32◦ 100 1200 7. 502◦ 350 8. 237◦ 580 4300

In Exercises 9 - 28, graph the oriented angle in standard position. Classify each angle according to
where its terminal side lies and then give two coterminal angles, one of which is positive and the
other negative.

9. 330◦ 10. −135◦ 11. 120◦ 12. 405◦

5π 11π 5π
13. −270◦ 14. 15. − 16.
6 3 4
3π π 7π π
17. 18. − 19. 20.
4 3 2 4
π 7π 5π
21. − 22. 23. − 24. 3π
2 6 3
π 15π 13π
25. −2π 26. − 27. 28. −
4 4 6

In Exercises 29 - 36, convert the angle from degree measure into radian measure, giving the exact
value in terms of π.

29. 0◦ 30. 240◦ 31. 135◦ 32. −270◦

33. −315◦ 34. 150◦ 35. 45◦ 36. −225◦

In Exercises 37 - 44, convert the angle from radian measure into degree measure.

2π 7π 11π
37. π 38. − 39. 40.
3 6 6
π 5π π π
41. 42. 43. − 44.
3 3 6 2
710 Foundations of Trigonometry

In Exercises 45 - 49, sketch the oriented arc on the Unit Circle which corresponds to the given real
number.
5π
45. t = 6 46. t = −π 47. t = 6 48. t = −2 49. t = 12

50. A yo-yo which is 2.25 inches in diameter spins at a rate of 4500 revolutions per minute. How
fast is the edge of the yo-yo spinning in miles per hour? Round your answer to two decimal
places.
51. How many revolutions per minute would the yo-yo in exercise 50 have to complete if the edge
of the yo-yo is to be spinning at a rate of 42 miles per hour? Round your answer to two
decimal places.
52. In the yo-yo trick ‘Around the World,’ the performer throws the yo-yo so it sweeps out a
vertical circle whose radius is the yo-yo string. If the yo-yo string is 28 inches long and the
yo-yo takes 3 seconds to complete one revolution of the circle, compute the speed of the yo-yo
in miles per hour. Round your answer to two decimal places.
53. A computer hard drive contains a circular disk with diameter 2.5 inches and spins at a rate
of 7200 RPM (revolutions per minute). Find the linear speed of a point on the edge of the
disk in miles per hour.
54. A rock got stuck in the tread of my tire and when I was driving 70 miles per hour, the rock
came loose and hit the inside of the wheel well of the car. How fast, in miles per hour, was
the rock traveling when it came out of the tread? (The tire has a diameter of 23 inches.)
55. The Giant Wheel at Cedar Point is a circle with diameter 128 feet which sits on an 8 foot tall
platform making its overall height is 136 feet. (Remember this from Exercise 17 in Section
7.2?) It completes two revolutions in 2 minutes and 7 seconds.20 Assuming the riders are at
the edge of the circle, how fast are they traveling in miles per hour?
56. Consider the circle of radius r pictured below with central angle θ, measured in radians, and
subtended arc of length s. Prove that the area of the shaded sector is A = 21 r2 θ.
A s
(Hint: Use the proportion area of the circle = circumference of the circle .)

r s
θ

20
Source: Cedar Point’s webpage.
10.1 Angles and their Measure 711

In Exercises 57 - 62, use the result of Exercise 56 to compute the areas of the circular sectors with
the given central angles and radii.
π 5π
57. θ = , r = 12 58. θ = , r = 100 59. θ = 330◦ , r = 9.3
6 4
60. θ = π, r = 1 61. θ = 240◦ , r = 5 62. θ = 1◦ , r = 117

63. Imagine a rope tied around the Earth at the equator. Show that you need to add only 2π feet
of length to the rope in order to lift it one foot above the ground around the entire equator.
(You do NOT need to know the radius of the Earth to show this.)

64. With the help of your classmates, look for a proof that π is indeed a constant.